Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
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• Could the most dedicated and willing maintenance department do a good job if they are referred to as a "necessary evil," a "cost-reduction challenge" and a "seat-of-the-pants" activity? • What maintenance manager could carry out his responsibilities effectively if they are influenced by the actions or omissions (even if unintended) of other departments? • How motivated would such a mainten- ance manager be if a mine manager acknowledged that maintenance re- quired the help of all other depart- ments but did nothing about it? • What maintenance department could control internal procedures or influence interdepartmental actions if they had been furnished an overly complex in- formation system intended primarily for accounting that totally neglected the vital maintenance activity of work control? • How many mine managers whose main- tenance activities consume more than 40% of operating costs neglect to verify the quality and effectiveness of maintenance services? • How many mine managers know that the control of maintenance labor is a vital function to its success yet resist measuring workforce productivity? But, what maintenance organization could succeed if they knew that their success depended on the help of all other departments but they failed to tell these departments how they could help? Would they be surprised when no help arrives or whatever assistance provided is not helpful because it was based on guesswork by departments otherwise will- ing to assist? Thus, the need for a quali- ty maintenance program involves an entire mining operation. The Production Strategy as a Solution Mining corporations expect efficient oper- ation and profitability from subordinate operations. Guidelines in the form of mis- sions, objectives or policies are transmit- ted to individual operations for conversion into actions that will achieve the desired results. A production strategy can be the mine manager's plan for achieving corpo- rate objectives. The production strategy assigns objectives (responsibilities) to all departments, to include how they will carry out or support maintenance. The strategy would also include policies for DECEMBER 2015 • E&MJ; 77 www.e-mj.com M A I N T E N A N C E Figure 2-1: Corporate guidelines encourage a meaningful response from subordinate mining operations. The response could be a production strategy based on proven techniques, principles and solid objectives necessary to achieve an effective mine operation. To bring about this outcome, objectives are assigned to confirm department responsibilities. Then, policies are added to clarify departmental interactions. From these objectives and policies, departments develop day-to-day procedures and incorporate them into departmental programs for implementation. Testing confirms their validity and, if required, modification of the production strategy. These steps help assure that maintenance is working in a supportive environment necessary to continue on to world-class objectives. Figure 2-2: Based on corporate guidelines, mine or plant (like smelters) managers could develop a production strat- egy in which department objectives are assigned and policies provided to clarify interdepartmental actions. Individual departments would respond by developing procedures to guide their internal department or interdepart- mental actions. The collective procedures might then be formed into programs and details exchanged among vari- ous departments to verify their accuracy and effectiveness. Then to prevent any misunderstanding, the total mine population, including managers, would be educated on the details of all department programs. The end result could assure dedicated support of maintenance, interdepartmental cooperation and satisfaction of corporate objectives.